OS: The Last Kiss

Six months.

Six months were going to be completed precisely in another few hours, after their contract marriage. Khushi couldn't believe how fast the time had flowed. It still looked like it was just yesterday, when Arnav Singh Raizada had put Sindoor on her forehead claiming her as his wife. A wife, only for the world, not his own.

So many things had occurred in these six months, especially the last one month. Arnav had come to know about Shyam's truth. About how Khushi Singh Raizada, his so called wife had been an innocent victim to his evil plans all the while. Somehow, he had deep inside, known the truth all the while. But his mind and ego refused to accept it. He had to blame her, coz he couldn't blame anyone for what was happening in his life. He had felt helpless, hurt, betrayed by the one whom he loved, his Khushi.

Khushi sat on their bed, carefully observing Arnav sitting on the recliner, resting his head behind with his eyes closed. She had a vague idea of what might have been going on in his mind right now. She could see the creased lines on his forehead. He looked pale and weary.

Ever since he had come to know the truth about Shyam, he didn't know how to react to Khushi's innocence. She remembered how he had stared at her face with apologetic eyes, yet he couldn't bear to apologise to her by words.

"I did this for my Di." He had simply stated and turned around, leaving her all alone in the poolside, the same poolside which was their place. A place which treasured every worthwhile memory of their lives spent together.

That day onwards, she had noticed, he wasn't able to look into her eyes anymore. They were always bent down with shame and guilt. He rarely spoke to her. Never once did he raise his voice, nor manhandle her. It looked like a part of him had died away. He was no more that angry, arrogant, ruthless Arnav Singh Raizada.

He would return home late at night and wake up early in the morning, leaving for office as soon as possible. He was by now sleeping everyday on the recliner.

He had sent Shyam to jail. Surprisingly, his Di turned out to be strong during the whole fiasco. Few days earlier, she had delivered a baby boy, whom she had named Aarav. "He looks just like his Mama, right Khushi?" she had said offering the baby to Khushi's arms.

Arnav had refused to go towards the baby. But Khushi had gone towards him and placed the baby in his arms. He had finally looked into her eyes, but only for a second before he lowered it down.

Khushi was confused how to react to this man. She didn't know whether to be angry with him or be sorry for him. Part of her knew he wasn't wrong. His Di, mattered the most to him in his life. She was the only living family to him. So could she blame him for forcing this marriage to save his Di's happiness?

She was wrong too and she knew it. Wasn't it her fault that she had hidden the whole Shyam fiasco from him? Afterall, didn't he have the right to know the truth?

As she deeply contemplated on all these things, she suddenly remembered her earlier conversation with Arnav in the morning.

"Arnavji, I have decided to go to Chandigarh tomorrow. As you know, today is my last day here in this house, and tomorrow I should be leaving, I thought about it and decided that it wouldn't be possible for me to return back to my house nor to go back to Lucknow." She had taken a deep breath before continuing. "Could you please arrange for my train tickets for tonight?"

Arnav had been busy working on his laptop. But hearing her voice, he paused to look up at her. "Ok, I'll arrange for it." He had said casually, standing up and rushing out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Khushi had felt tears welling in her eyes. He hadn't said a word about stopping her. Was he really letting her go? She felt a pain through her chest as she collapsed on the floor, tears gushing down her face. She couldn't understand why did he still matter the most to her? Why did it hurt if he didn't care back for her? Hadn't he always been a rakshas to her? yet, why was she still expecting love from him?

Arnav had banged the door behind him because he couldn't let her see him like this. He felt tears threatening to roll down his eyes. He felt his throat choke. He wanted to cry out, so loudly and badly. He wanted to stop her. He had thought she would stay. Stay for him. He needed her in his life. He was sorry for everything he had done to her. He wanted to make things right between them, but he didn't know how or where to start. He had hurt her beyond forgiveness.

How could he still expect her to forgive him? To stay in his life?

He had collapsed on the other side of the door, completely breaking down into silent cries of pain and guilt.

Both were heart broken, hurt and shattered. The only difference was that neither knew what the other was going through.

Snapping back to reality, Khushi got up from the bed, gazing at the clock on the wall. It was already 8:00 pm. The train was scheduled to leave at 11:40 pm. She had loads of packing to do. Her clothes and stuff, as well as all the memories in this house, with him, with everyone.

She went to the cupboard and took out the suitcase, placing it on the bed. She went to take out her sarees, one by one, to arrange it inside the suitcase.

He saw her going towards the cupboard and stood up and went towards her. He could atleast help her in packing, he thought to himself.

"Khushi, I'll help you." He said taking out the sarees and carefully arranging them inside the suitcase. As the soft silky material brushed against his hands, he felt a part of his remaining self, dying a slow painful death. The light of hope seemed to dim out a little by little. He tried his level best to control his emotions.

She deserved a new life. A life without him, full of happiness and love. And that was the least he could do to her.

Khushi stared at him carefully folding the sarees. He looked lost in distant world. Even now, she was expecting him to say 'Please don't go'. But he was never going to say it now, was he? She mocked her own foolish self for keeping her hopes alive in him.

"Arnavji, will you please drop me to the station? I wouldn't have asked you for help, but it is late at night and I'm scared to travel alone in the dark." She asked Arnav.

She was still scared of dark. She was alone.

He wanted to embrace her right at this moment, console her that he was beside her. That she needn't worry about anything, nor fear anyone. But he felt the cruel truth hit him hard. He was the one she needed to fear about. He had destroyed her life.

"I will drop you." He said quietly.

"Please make sure, the others don't notice me leaving. I won't be able to face them." She said fighting back her tears. She was going to miss each and every person of this house.

They had quietly gone down for dinner. Khushi had made sure she memorized every little detail of everyone's face. It was afterall, these happy memories that would sustain her life's journey ahead.

At 10:45 pm, when everyone had retired back to their respective rooms, she had dressed up ready to leave. Arnav was ready in his shirt and trousers waiting for her.

"I'm ready!" she had announced adjusting her hair and salwar kameez. "Oh! I forgot!" she had squeaked out and bent to pick the Sindoor box and applied a pinch of it on her forehead. But immediately, the bitter reality struck her.

She felt a surge of disappointment rush into her. She didn't know whether to rub off the sindoor or not. She had been so used to applying it for the past six months, that she had forgotten that it would soon mean nothing to her. She was being freed from this contractual relationship forever.

She could see him staring at her through the mirror. For a moment, she felt like she saw a flick of happiness on his face, when she had applied the sindoor. But then, observing him once again, she could only see him staring at her blankly. She pushed that thought aside as a figment of her own imagination.

"Let's go!" she said deciding not to wipe off the sindoor. She was still his wife. Atleast for the next one hour and fifteen minutes.

Arnav picked up her bags and led her quietly into the car, making sure no one in the house noticed them leaving.

The car journey upto the railway station was eerily quiet than usual. Not a word was spoken. Khushi stared at the darkness surrounding them, reminiscing all their memories in the car. She felt a lone tear escape down her eyes. This was going to be harder than she expected.

Arnav didn't want this journey to end. He wanted to remain with her forever like this. Her, always beside him. But it was not possible.

They reached the station and he helped her with the bags. Taking the ticket from his pocket, he led her inside the station. The train had already arrived at the station. People rushed around the platform, each one eager to board the train.

"Khushi, this is your compartment." He said reading the numbers on the brown paint.

"Oh!" was all she could say. He led her towards the entrance and kept the suitcase on the floor.

"Take your ticket." He said quietly. She took it and kept it inside the purse.

Taking a deep breath she spoke, what she had been dreading about since morning. "So this is it huh?" she let out a sigh. "The train is going to leave in another 15 minutes. So Goodbye Arnavji!" she tried her best to control herself from flinging into his arms, from burying her head into his chest, from embracing him tightly never to let go.

"Goodbye Khushi!" he said in a low painful voice, controlling all his instincts to stop her from leaving him behind.

"Thank you for everything." She said looking at his face one last time and turning around to go towards the door that lay a few metres ahead of them. He turned around, taking small painful steps away from her, from the love of his life. He didn't hold back the tears any longer. He cried, like the same little boy who cried the day his parents died. It didn't matter if anyone around him stared at him. He dragged himself away from her.

He loved her.

He loved her so much that he could sacrifice his love for her happiness. She deserved a better life. A life without him in it to destroy it.

He tried to fight his urge to look back at her, but his will power was weakened. He turned around and saw her standing still near the door, her back faced to him. She looked like she was trembling, shivering.

Involuntarily, he called out to her, "KHUSHI!"

She turned around to the voice, her eyes reddened with tears. She was sobbing like the same small girl, the day her parents had died leaving her all alone.

He couldn't fight it anymore.

He rushed towards her to take her into his arms. He embraced her tightly like never before. This was the first time he had hugged her whole heartedly.

She couldn't believe what was happening to her. She reciprocated the hug, holding on dearly to her life, her Arnav. They held on to each other like this for a whole minute, oblivious to the world around them.

Arnav pulled apart after a minute and cupped her tears stricken face in his palms. "I am so sorry Khushi for all that I have done to you!" he pleaded, his voice choked with pain. "I never wanted to hurt you, but I did. I hurt you beyond forgiveness." He leant his forehead on hers, as his body trembled with sobs.

He slowly bent forward and placed a soft gentle kiss on her lips, so sweet, so tender, begging for forgiveness, reflecting every ounce of his love for her. She reciprocated it back whole heartedly, holding on to him tightly. This was a kiss that they had waited for a long time. And this was magical, blissful and eternal.

He moved apart a bit, his eyes focussing on hers. "I have always loved you Khushi and will always do so. But I don't deserve your love." She looked back at him with confusion in her eyes. "I cannot be selfish. You don't deserve me in your life. You deserve happiness and love, the things that I could never provide you with. I am a monster and you need to get away from me."

She held on tightly to his shirt, struggling to understand his words.

"I don't deserve to be loved." He said holding her hands and gently pushed her away from him.

"But Arnavji..." she interrupted only to be stopped by him.

"You had a good life until I came into your life. But since that day, you have only suffered because of me." As each word came out of his mouth, he felt his chest constrict with agony, the blood drain from his already paled face.

"You are a strong woman Khushi. Just think this was a bad phase of your life. You are getting a chance to begin a new chapter in your life. You need to move on. From me." He uttered closing his eyes, tears escaping down his cheeks.

"And never feel scared or lonely in life. You are above all those things. You are My Khushi!" He said as he heard the train horn blare out, the engines beginning to heat up. "Go!"

He ushered her inside the train, leaving her completely dumbfounded with his actions. She would never be able to comprehend this man. She stood at the door, as the train began to slowly pick up pace and move ahead. With every second, she felt the distance between them increasing.

He stood on the platform, his hand lifted a bit, to wave her goodbye. He managed a faint smile at her, as he felt the life from him slowly sucking out to create a vacuum. A void that would remain empty for his lifetime.

He could still feel her soft lips on his. He was going to hold on to that very moment for the rest of his life. His last kiss.

She managed to slowly wave back at his distant figure. She continued to stare at his form until he was just a dot in her vision. "Arnavji..." she cried out his name to the wind, outstretching her hand, hoping that the wind would carry it to his ears.

She touched her lips reliving his warm lips on hers. Her last kiss. A lone tear escaped down her eyes, relieved to be finally set free of the bonds that chained it.

Sometimes there is no explanation for things that happen with us in our life. Life is mysterious and so is love.

How was it guys? Leave your comments!

Yup, me ready with helmet, armor and shield. not to forget a sword too.😆 Bring it on. Throw me your sandals, tomatoes and eggs.🤣

I know, it's not that great, but I heard some ppl complaining -"We don't want your hot OS's. They are too much for our innocent minds!" So this was for all those ppl out there who wanted me to go back to my old innocent ways.😈

Pardon Moi if I've not lived upto your expectations!😛

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